The remote job market conditions
Hey,
I'm Sergio Pereira, and this is the Remote Work newsletter 👋
Last week I told you about the launch of the Remote Jobs Braintrust. Cohort #1 is running at full speed, with people in the community applying to jobs, going to interviews and some getting offers on the table.
In fact, I've opened registrations for Cohort #2 already. It starts in November, and you can join here. I'm really excited to grow this community, the conversations so far are quickly making it one of my top places to spend my time online.
Today I'll tell you about what I'm seeing in the remote job market, more broadly, which indicates a mood swing after the layoffs that loomed the tech industry for the past 12-18 months.
My personal view
As I explained you a couple weeks ago, all my Fractional CTO clients are currently hiring. This used to be my normal scope of work 2-3 years ago. But it certainly changed for a while for the last year or so, as the scopes of work swinged a bit towards operating layoffs, recovering from layoffs, cutting cloud costs, cutting headcount costs, etc. You get the gist.
It's a very welcome swing back to hiring, I can tell you. The market is not like 2021 yet. Not from a volume perspective, and not from a salary budget perspective either. But it seems to be the start of a new phase in the tech hiring market, which is great news for people looking for such jobs.
The recruiting industry
The recruiting industry has been accumulating losses for the past 12 months, with negative growth YoY every quarter since mid-2022. The shrinking number of companies hiring means fewer roles to work on and collect those sweet finder's fees. And the huge inflow of talent in the market from layoffs means a reduced need to engage with recruiters and head hunters.
That seems to be changing. With recruiters in my network reporting a strong September, with many companies hiring again, and some with aggressive growth plans. This isn't specific to remote or in-office, it's just the industry moving as a whole. Also, some Big Tech companies are hiring recruiters, such as Meta (below), which indicates plans to ramp up hiring ahead. I'd expect a bandwagon effect, just like we saw in layoffs, so it seems promising.
The people in the Remote Jobs Braintrust
I used to be speaking with job seekers always as the interviewer. But the Braintrust brought me this refreshing perspective that I was actually seeking: I speak daily with job seekers as a mentor. And I'm very happy to see people getting traction for interviews, processes moving forward through the technical stages, and at least a couple of them getting offers on the table this week. Also, salary ranges seem healthy at the top of the market, with plenty of roles with salary ranges above $100k/year and even $150k/year.
Certainly, most people in the Remote Jobs Braintrust are mid-to-senior profiles, so this might not apply so well to juniors and freshers. But it's still a first hand look into a refreshed hiring market, that's way more active now than it was for the past 12-18 months.
Job seekers more broadly
Despite all this, most job seekers seem to be still feeling negative about the remote job market, as their job search experience is probably frustrating. That's my interpretation of this survey I did recently on my Twitter:
With 38k followers on Twitter, and assuming a normal distribution of profiles, skills, geography, etc. It's fair to assume that some of my followers are senior tech workers with plenty of market demand. But most of them, are probably either junior, or changing careers, or work in other areas outside tech.
It feels like the market conditions are still hard for these profiles, especially for remote roles, which tend to be very competitive, with candidates from around the world. It's likely that these less senior profiles are having a frustrating job seeking experience, as they seem to have lower market demand.
In any case, I feel the market is picking up again, and the coming months will probably bring more liquidity in opportunities across the board. As a rule of thumb, it's always a good idea to hone your skills and build relevant experience to standout to recruiters and hiring managers.
Some more details about kick off Cohort #2 of the Remote Jobs Braintrust, on the 14/November. I've added it to the Gumroad checkout page, and it has the 50% launch discount, like Cohort #1 had. It's again limited to 30 seats, since I want to actually get to know everyone and have this group mentorship vibe. If you're looking for a remote job, consider joining us.
Thanks for reading this newsletter until the end. You can read all past editions here. Make sure to share the link with your friends and colleagues so they can read it too.
See you next Friday,
Sergio Pereira,
Startup CTO & Remote Work Lover
